Tolaram Group

Holding company based in Singapore
  • Consumer Goods
  • Fintech
  • Infrastructure
  • Industrials
Founded1948; 76 years ago (1948)Headquarters
Singapore
WebsiteOfficial website

Tolaram Group is a holding company headquartered in Singapore with diversified business interests in consumer goods, fintech, infrastructure and industrials.[1] It has a presence across Asia, Africa, Europe and South America.[2] Tolaram Group successfully creates new product categories independently or in partnership with other multinational companies and quickly becomes the market leader in the emerging markets where it operates.[3]

History

Tolaram Group origins can be traced to the textile trade of Khanchand Vaswani, a Sindhi businessman, who established a shop in Malang, Indonesia in 1948.[4] The business subsequently expanded into textile manufacturing and distributing consumer goods. Tolaram relocated its headquarters to Singapore in 1975[5] and began exporting to Africa in the late 70s.

Consumer goods

In 1988, Tolaram Group began exporting to Nigeria instant noodles manufactured by Indofoods of the Salim Group of Indonesia and Maggi of the Nestlé brought by Indofood as well as its joint venture in Indonesia.[6] The product was new to Nigeria and Tolaram's management desire was to market the brand, obtain significant following and attain market leadership. Further investments were made in the country when the group absorbed the haulage business of Blackwood Hodge integrating it with its Indomie enterprise to deliver supplies to wholesalers.[7] Indomie instant noodles gradually thrived in the Nigerian market, significant growth was achieved after the return of democracy in 1999 and the brand soon came to dominate the market.[8]

In 1995, concern shifted towards local manufacturing of its key brand and a noodles plant was constructed which began operations in 1996. To support the plant and ensure performance, it integrated many parts of its operations with additional investments in energy supply, and expansion of its logistic and distribution network.[9] Multipro Limited was also established in 1997 to distribute various products including the company's brands.

Tolaram Group entered into a venture between its Multipro brand and Kellogg's Corporation in 2015 to produce and market Kellogg's food products in Nigeria.[10] Another venture with Arla Group was established to market and distribute Dano products in Nigeria and entered the business of Cadbury Nigeria Plc. and made Cadbury Nigeria a joint venture with Mondelez International for marketing and promotion of Bournvita products.[11][12]

In 2019–2020, Tolaram Group made a joint venture again with Colgate Palmolive as Colgate Palmolive Tolaram to produce and distribute Colgate toothpaste and also to distribute Kimberly-Clark products, Huggies and Kotex products.[13]

Fintech

Tolaram Group holds significant equity in Amar Bank, Indonesia's first digital bank.[14] The institution encourages digital transactions through its microloans platform,[15] Tunaiku, and cloud-based mobile-only digital banking app,[16] Senyumku. Tolaram has also invested in Click Cash,[17] a digital-lending platform in Brazil and Income, a P2P loans platform in Estonia.

Infrastructure

In 2019, it was announced Tolaram Group is developing Nigeria's first privately owned free trade zone with an integrated deep-sea port in the Lekki area of Lagos.[18] Lekki Port is Nigeria's single largest private infrastructure investment.[19] The port is expected to have an aggregate impact of approximately US$361b on the Nigerian economy over the 45-year concession period.[20]

Industrials

Tolaram Group acquired in 1995 from the government of Estonia a paper mill that was bankrupt at the time of purchase. It was renamed Horizon Pulp and Paper Mill[21] and is the only producer of sack kraft paper in the Baltics.[22] In 2018, Horizon inaugurated a new combined heat and power plant (CHP) that cover the mill's energy needs and is part of an environment-centric investment program. Horizon exports to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.[23]

Subsidiaries

Trade Name Business activity/main location Brands
DUFIL Prima Foods Plc[24] Consumer goods joint venture with Salim Group/West Africa Indomie instant noodle, Minimie Noodles & Chin Chin, Power Pasta, Pure Flour
Nestlé Nigeria Plc[25] Consumer goods joint venture with Nestle/West Africa Milo, Carnation, Maggi, Golden Morn, Ideal, Cerelac, Nido, Gloria, Nescafe
Cadbury Nigeria Plc[26] Consumer goods joint venture with Mondelez International/West Africa Cadbury, Bournvita, Chiclets, Clight, Halls, Sparkies, Trident, Tomtom, Buttermint, Bubbaloo
Multipro Enterprises[27] Distribution/West Africa Power Oil, Emperor Oil, Kimberly-Clark, Huggies, Kotex
Colgate Pamolive Tolaram[28] Consumer goods joint venture with Colgate Palmolive/West Africa Hypo, Colgate
Lagos Free Trade Zone Company FTZ/Lagos
Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Port services/Lagos
TG Arla Consumer goods joint venture with Arla/West Africa Dano milk
Tolaram Nutri Beverages Ltd Consumer goods/West Africa Goodlife Magik juices
Kellogg Tolaram Nigeria Plc Consumer goods joint venture with Kellogg's/West Africa Corn Flakes
Horizon Pulp & Paper, Kehra Harju county consumer goods/Estonia Horizon products
Amar Bank Finance
Lucky Fibres Plc Textile, Fibre, Interior, Beauty Nobel Carpets & Rugs/ Lush Hair

References

  1. ^ "Tolaram Group – Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Our Businesses". Tolaram. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  3. ^ "Tolaram Innovating in the Nigerian Market with Indomie". The Case Centre. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  4. ^ Bloomberg, Klaus Wille & Pei Yi Mak (12 October 2018). "How to turn a family shop into a $1.8 billion multinational". mint. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Our Journey". Tolaram. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  6. ^ "How one company defied the odds and is grossing almost $1 billion in revenue… in Nigeria".
  7. ^ "Page 1". www.tabla.com.sg. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  8. ^ Wargadiredja, Arzia Tivany (2017-04-24). "How Indomie Became Insanely Popular in Nigeria". Vice. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  9. ^ Christensen, Clayton M. (2019-01-15). The prosperity paradox (First ed.). New York, NY: Harper Business. pp. 79–93. ISBN 978-0-06-285183-3. OCLC 1082518619.
  10. ^ "Page 1". www.tabla.com.sg. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  11. ^ dairyreporter.com. "Arla boosts West African 'distribution backbone' with JVs in Nigeria and Senegal". dairyreporter.com. Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  12. ^ thenationonlineng.net. "Cadbury, Tolaram laumch yuletide promo". thenationonlineng.net. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  13. ^ globalcosmeticsnews.com. "Colgate Palmolive Partners With Tolaram Group To Bring Innovative Oral Care Options To Nigeria". globalcosmeticsnews.com. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  14. ^ DiBiasio, Jame (2021-05-24). "Indonesia's Bank Amar relies on head start to see off rivals". Digital Finance. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  15. ^ "Tunaiku Eyeing SMEs Engaged in Online Sales". Jakarta Globe. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  16. ^ "Indonesia's Amar Bank taps Google Cloud for launch of smart phone bank". Finextra Research. 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  17. ^ "Morcote Holdings | Our Investments". Morcote Investments. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  18. ^ Munshi, Neil (October 21, 2019). "Noodle maker plans busiest port in west Africa". Retrieved 2020-02-10.
  19. ^ "Infrastructure upgrades: Port facilities will be given a boost to expand transit shipment, increase volumes and limit evasion". Oxford Business Group. 2013-12-08. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  20. ^ Adeleye, Adeyemo. "The Port". Lekkiport. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
  21. ^ "Kehra Pulp & Paper Mill – Kehra". wikimapia.org. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  22. ^ "Horizon Pulp & Paper inaugurates new CHP plant at its Kehra mill in Estonia | RISI Technology Channels". technology.risiinfo.com. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  23. ^ "Horizon". Horizon. Retrieved 2021-11-16.
  24. ^ "Dufil Prima Foods- About Us". Dufil Prima Foods. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Nestle- About Us". Nestle Central & West Africa. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  26. ^ "Cadbury, Tolaram Launch Yuletide Promo". The Nation Online Nigeria. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  27. ^ "Our Businesses". Tolaram. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  28. ^ "Our Businesses". Tolaram. Retrieved 2022-02-22.